Someone asked the question “What is the greatest sacrifice that comes with having a hearing loss?” People flooded the hard-of-hearing message board with various answers such as “Not getting the promotion” or “Feeling misunderstood.” Finally, a grandfather wrote, “Missing what my granddaughters are saying.”
I agree that missing what your loved ones are saying is the greatest sacrifice.
For this reason, the personal amplifier is one of my favorite assistive listening devices. Personal amplifiers (PockeTalkers, SoundWizards, Directors) amplify the voice and not the background noise. They shine in noisy, one-on-one situations such as cars and restaurants. Personal amplifiers are simple; they consist of only a microphone, amplifier, and wire:
http://www.beyondhearingaids.com/Product%20Catalog/Detail.asp?ItemCd=315
Front Seat Passenger
While driving, I hand my PockeTalker Pro to my mom (my front seat passenger) and put the earbuds into my ears. Voila! The road noise fades into the background and my mom’s soft voice comes through loud (as loud as I want it) and clear. How simple!
One Child Back Seat Passenger
My granddaughter is sitting in a car seat in the back seat. She is too young to hold the PockeTalker. To fix this problem, I extended the microphone and fastened it above her head and close to her car seat. This is how it’s done:
http://www.beyondhearingaids.com/Home/blog/BlogView.asp?BlogID=10
One Front Seat and Two Back Seat Passengers
You can attach 3 microphones to your PockeTalker to accommodate 2 backseat passengers and a front seat passenger. It’s easy with two Y-Adapters from Radio Shack. Here’s what you do:
- Pull out the plug-in microphone on your PockeTalker
- Plug a Y-Adapter (#274-310A) into the microphone jack:
http://www.radioshack.com/search/index.jsp?numProdsPerPage=10&y=14&origkw=y+adapter&x=7&kwCatId=&kw=y+adapter&pg=1&x=6&y=5
- Plug another elongated Y-Adapter (#42-2437) into the first Y-Adapter:
http://www.radioshack.com/search/index.jsp?y=14&y=5&origkw=y+adapter&x=7&x=6&kwCatId=&kw=y+adapter&numProdsPerPage=10&pg=3
- Now plug 3 directional lapel microphones into the Y-Connectors:
http://www.beyondhearingaids.com/Product%20Catalog/Detail.asp?ItemCd=121
Sharing a PockeTalker: When Both Have a Hearing Loss
My cousin Lily has a severe hearing loss. When I’d drive her to doctors’ appointments, I’d let her use the PockeTalker. The problem with this is that now I’d struggle to hear her.
We stumbled along with this unacceptable arrangement until the answer hit me: We can both use the same PockeTalker with the right accessories. Because I keep a stash of different listening devices on hand for others to try, I already had the accessories I needed to share the PockeTalker with Lily.
Sharing a PockeTalker: Add Y Connectors
The PockeTalker comes with a jack for a microphone and a jack for headphones. You can pull out the plug-in microphone and plug in a Y-Connector. Radio Shack has lots of different Y-Connectors (or adapters). Bring your personal amplifier and choose an appropriate one:
Sharing a PockeTalker: Add an additional microphone
Next, plug the PockeTalker’s plug-in microphone into one branch of the Y-Connector and plug a directional lapel microphone into the other branch of the Y-Connector:
Now put the PockeTalker into your shirt pocket so that the plug-in microphone is close to your collar. Meanwhile, your passenger can clip the additional lapel microphone to his or her collar.
Sharing a PockeTalker: Add an additional set of earbuds
Next, plug another Y-Connector into the headphone jack and attach another set of earbuds (or other listening option):
http://www.beyondhearingaids.com/Product%20Catalog/Detail.asp?ItemCd=108
The Versatile Personal Amplifier
Personal amplifiers are simple, economical, effective and versatile. They even come with their own special accessories so that you can hear TV and on the phone. But to me, the best thing about a personal amplifier is that I don’t have to miss what my loved ones are saying – unless I want to!
